4th Annual Florida Beach Halfathon & 5K Race

Location:

North Beach, Ft. DeSoto Park

Date:

Sun 03/17/2013

Distances:

5K, 10K, Half Marathon, Marathon

Event Size:

1300 Participants

Features:

Adult||Family||Kids||Men||Women

Date

Time

Race

Distance

Highlights:

Welcome!
We invite athletes to join us for our 4th Annual Florida Beach Halfathon & 5k Race, scheduled for Sunday, March 17, at our nation's favorite beach: Fort De Soto Park, just south of St. Petersburg.
Fort De Soto Park has been recognized a number of times as America’s Top Beach. Citing a “spectacular combination of soft white sand, calm, clear water and a laid-back atmosphere,” the popular online travel network put the park’s North Beach at the top of its annual best-of list, based on TripAdvisor's Popularity Index. In 2005, Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, a.k.a. “Dr. Beach,” named Fort De Soto the nation’s #1 Beach.
HALFATHON ENTRY FEES
$45 online ONLY for the first 50 entrants
$55 postmarked/online until November 6, 2012
$65 postmarked/online until February 3, 2013
$75 postmarked until March 10, 2013
$75 online ONLY until March 13, 2013
$85 on-site registration, March 16 - 17, 2013
5K RACE ENTRY FEES
$30 postmarked/online until February 3, 2013
$35 postmarked/online until March 10, 2013
$35 online ONLY until March 13, 2013
$40 race week, on-site registration, March 16 - 17, 2013
REFUND POLICY
Early entrants who register by November 18 are eligible for complete refunds of entry fees or deferral to another upcoming race - athlete's choice.
There are no refunds, transfers or credits, unless you register by November 18, 2012, AND notify the race director of your withdrawal at least two weeks prior to the race. There are NO transfers to other athletes. ALL refunds from ALL races will be issued at the same time - after our Florida's Beach Halfathon on or about April 1, 2013.
GENERAL INFO
The halfathon course starts with a loop for the first 5K before an out-and-back 10 mile tour of Ft. De Soto Park. The aforementioned 5K loop comprises the 5K race.
Both courses are located entirely in Ft. De Soto Park and run on paved trails and access roads. These are extremely flat and fast courses with no bridges, overpasses, or discernible inclines. They will be accurately measured and certified by the USATF.
All Halfathon finishers earn unique, running Starfish gold medals. In both the Halfathon and the 5k Race, awards are up for grabs for M/F Open, Masters (40+) and Grand Masters (50+), three deep; age group awards offered three deep in 5 year increments.
7 Aid stations for the halfathon and 1 for the 5K, with enthusiastic volunteers, water and Gatorade, and fresh Florida oranges starting at the midpoint.
Our area's weather in mid-March: average low is 61, average high is 76, perhaps a tad warmer than preferred for running, but we will be starting the race 40 minutes before sunrise. Of course, the mild temperatures will be welcome while relaxing on our nation's #1 Beach after the race
Walkers are welcome to join these races. Course support is based on a 3:30 pace. Due to our staging of this race entirely within a park and primarily on nature trails, we will NOT be offering an early walker's start. All athletes will start at the same time.
USATF SANCTIONED
All our races are sanctioned and insured through USATF for runners, joggers, and walkers ONLY. Strollers, skaters, skateboards and bicycles are NOT allowed on the course during our races.
HEADPHONES AND IPODS
Headphones of any type are now allowed at USATF sanctioned events, but are discouraged due to safety concerns, not only during the actual race, but as importantly, while athletes are training in an uncontrolled environment. Individual races may impose their own regulations, but we don’t, as it would be nearly impossible to enforce.
ATHLETES ENJOY
• Deep discounts on registration fees for early entrants - see below
• A fair refund policy for early entrants – see below
• Accurately measured, USATF certified course
• Extremely safe courses with excellent traffic control, including cones and police
• Accurate mile markers; Computerized timing / scoring
• Seven aid stations stocked with Gatorade, water, oranges and friendly volunteers
• Running Starfish gold medals for all Halfathon finishers
• Awards for the top three in standard age groups
• Overall, Masters (40+), and Grandmasters (50+) plaques for the top three males and females
• A complete web-site for easily accessible information:
- On-line registration
- On-line confirmation frequently updated
• Regular e-mails, providing updated information
• Opportunity to pick up bib numbers on race day
• Colorful t-shirt highlighting the Beach theme
• Finish-line celebration our nation's #1 Beach:
- An assortment of fruits, bagels, and pastries
- Freshly prepared homemade pasta
- Ice-cold beverages
- Live entertainment
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FLORIDA BEACH VIRTUAL HALFATHON
Registration is now OPEN for our Florida Beach Virtual Halfathon during the weeks surrounding March 17th to coincide with the actual running of our race. This allows athletes to run or walk anywhere in the world and still earn one of our finisher's medals.
Net proceeds (after costs of bib, medal, shipping, administration) will be donated to several small local non-profits, including:
Local Running Clubs for their scholarship programs or however they see fit to serve their members.
Support Our Marines, Inc. founded by one of our loyal athletes, Dianne Villano, to support troops in the most remote locations.
Partners For Life Foundation, created by Lorraine Yaslowitz to support families who lose loved ones to senseless acts of violence in memory of her husband Jeff, a K9 police officer in St. Petersburg, FL lost in the line of duty in 2011.
Here is how our Virtual Halfathon work:
1) Athletes register for $30.
2) Athletes who register by 11:59 pm, Sunday, March 3, will have their ultra-personalized official bib number sent out via regular mail on Friday, March 8th. ALL entrants will be able to download generic bibs from our website for home printing. Please note: our webpage for cirtual athletes has not yet been created, but please check back. Entrants who register after March 3rd will not have a bib number sent via mail. We would LOVE it if you wear your bib number while you complete your virtual run and it would be even better if you have some photos taken and share them with us.
3) Athletes must complete a half marathon (13.1 miles) during the 16-day period from March 9 - 24. This time period is rather extensive for several reasons: 1) many of our virtual athletes live in areas where weather will create obstacles too severe to run safely; 2) athletes participating in other popular spring races can "double-dip" - earning extra bling for the same run; 3) this time frame offers achievable goals for athletes still building their mileage - perhaps we can provide some added motivation.
4) For the purposes of this virtual run, you may complete your mileage in one run or you can split it up over the 16 days - your choice. If that time span seems too easy, please remember our goals are to promote a healthy, active lifestyle AND to raise $$$ for local non-profits.
5) Please share your results, experience and photos at our Facebook page. Your results will NOT be recorded as official results, nor will you be eligible for age group awards or rankings. It is not necessary to send us emails to report results, but you are certainly welcome to share your comments with us.
6) In order to have your medal sent, please post your run at the above Facebook page. We will send you an official finisher medal from our 4th Annual Florida Beach Halfathon. This is a gorgeous custom-made medal, measuring 3.5" across, along with custom ribbons.
7) If we have medals left over after distribution to finishers onsite at our race, we will be able to ship virtual run participants their medal within a week or so after the event.
8) However, if we run out of medals, we will need to order new ones and it will take 5-6 weeks, as they will be manufactured to our specific order.
9) Medals will be sent to virtual runners in the order of registration. This means some of you may receive medals within 2 weeks of our race, while others may receive them in 5-6 weeks.
10) Regardless of how it all unfolds, we will send out emails right after the race advising our virtual athletes of when medals will be shipped.
11) Athletes who have joined us for all 4 of our virtual runs (Halloween Halfathon, Holiday Halfathon, Clearwater Halfathon or Clearwater Marathon, and Florida Beach Halfathon) are eligible to purchase the series completion medal for just $10 to cover the cost of the medal and shipping.
Thank you for participating in our virtual run – it is very much appreciated by those non-profits we support.
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4TH ANNUAL FLORIDA HALFATHON CHALLENGE
This race is also the 4th opportunity to run 13.1 miles of our 4th Annual Florida Halfathon Challenge. In addition to competing for overall and age group awards each week, athletes' finishing times will be tracked to determine overall and age-group series' champions.
Athletes accumulate their total finishing time by completing any three of our halfathons during each season from Halloween through March. Those athletes who complete all four of our halfathons will have their slowest time dropped automatically.
The Florida Gulf Beaches Road Races Schedule
Sunday, October 28: 4th Annual Florida Halloween Halfathon & 5K Race, Ft. De Soto Park
Sunday, December 9: 11th Annual Florida Holiday Halfathon, Madeira Beach to Largo
Sunday, January 20: 8th Annual Clearwater Halfathon, 5-Miler, and 5K Fitness Walk, Clearwater
Sunday, March 17: 4th Annual Florida Beach Halfathon & 5K Race, Ft. De Soto Park
To recognize our fastest and most consistent halfathon athletes, we offer special overall and age-group rewards based on three halfathons. We also recognize athletes who complete all four of our halfathons with exclusive finisher medals and shirts.
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In an effort to give back to our local community, we help stage The Police Appreciation Run/Walk in May as a joint venture with the Partners For Life Foundation, Inc.
It was created by Lorraine Yaslowitz in memory of her husband, slain K-9 Police Officer Jeff Yaslowitz after his tragic loss on January 24, 2011. The Foundation's primary mission is to lend support to the families of innocent loved ones lost to senseless acts of violence. All net proceeds after direct expenses are presented to the foundation. Its website will be available soon.
Make a donation to the Partners For Life Foundation.
For information, please visit our website at: www.FloridaRoadRaces.com.
Our simple goal is to exceed your expectations.
Run on our roads, relax on our award-winning beaches!
Chris Lauber, Race Director
727 347-4440 Voicemail
FLRoadRaces@aol.com